Stuart Skinner Contract Asking Price Soars After Blackwood Extension with Colorado Avalanche
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
The Colorado Avalanche signed their new goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood this morning to a 5 year contract with a $5.25M annual salary, a deal that will surely help Oilers starter Stuart Skinner get a big raise.
The Oilers were named as potential suitors to trade for Mackenzie Blackwood before the Avalanche made their trade, and now they're doubling down early to keep him.
Stuart Skinner has been inconsistent at times, but in the aggregate he's giving the Oilers great value at a very low cap hit of $2.6M.
Earlier this year, Skinner fired his agent and hired new representation that specializes with a goalie union - obviously trying to raise the salaries of NHL goaltenders.
Mackenzie Blackwood Contract Will Raise Value of Stuart Skinner's Next Deal
Mackenzie Blackwood is very comparable to Stuart Skinner in most statistics, with a slight edge to Skinner over the course of his career.
Blackwood has started 219 career games with a .905 save percentage, including three seasons below a .900. Skinner currently has started 146 games with a .907 save percentage.
If Skinner starts 50 games this season and next while maintaining a career save percentage near .910, as well as leading the Oilers through the playoffs and potentially with a Stanley Cup, he'll vastly surpass Blackwood's salary of $5.25M.
There's been no concrete reports on Skinner's expected salary asking price, but it will surely soar past his current bargain deal of $2.6M. If the Oilers have more team success and he plays a part in it, his value could easily reach upwards of $7M.
Some Oilers analysts have even predicted up to $9M. That's been walked back after he crated to a save percentage in the .870s to begin the season, but Skinner has now worked back to an .895.
Thankfully for the Oilers and every other NHL team, the salary cap could see a major increase of well over $15M from the current cap. Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts Podcast that the cap could boom in 2 years, when Skinner and McDavid are up for a contract.
«If that's the case, and again it depends on who you talk to, there are some estimates ... that think in two years, a 50-50 cap will be close to $110 million.»
-Elliotte Friedman
-Elliotte Friedman
That'll help to retain some players, but the Oilers may have to make some tough decisions - especially with Stuart Skinner.
Hopefully the team can find a way to Retain their hometown and homegrown starter, while he keeps up the level of play he's found recently.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 27 | 199 ANSWERS Stuart Skinner Contract Asking Price Soars After Blackwood Extension with Colorado Avalanche Do you think the Oilers should keep Stuart Skinner after he hits free agency? | ||
| Yes | 111 | 55.8 % |
| No | 88 | 44.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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